District 2 City Commissioner Patte Atkins-Grad was suspended for about two and half years and returned to the dais this month after a jury found her not guilty of eight felony corruption charges, including bribery and unlawful compensation.

Already, Vice Mayor Harry Dressler has asked her to step down.

Atkins-Grad acknowledged receiving $6,300 in benefits from developers Bruce and Shawn Chait for a BMW lease and a victory party.

At the time, the Chaits had a housing project before the city and prosecutors noted Atkins-Grad voted in favor of their project 15 times without disclosing she had received any gifts.

Now residents, too, want her out of office before her term expires in 2014. On Saturday, Alvin Entin, a criminal defense lawyer leading the charge, said they need 1,000 signatures within 30 days to begin recall efforts.

By the end of Saturday, 178 signatures had been gathered from three locations at Woodlands Country Club and Mainlands of Tamarac.

Stewart Webster, who has previously run for city commission, stopped by to sign the petition. He is considering running for Atkins-Grad's seat if she is ultimately recalled, he said.

"Tamarac is a jewel and when people start to tarnish that, I've got a problem," he said.

Jeff Smoley, 64, a retired engineer who has lived in Tamarac for seven years, said he refuses to believe Atkins-Grad's defense that she wasn't corrupt, but instead clueless.

"Even if she was totally not guilty, to get yourself in that position brings the whole confidence in local government down," he said.

Said Kevin Muscolino, who has lived in Tamarac for 25 years: "If you don't know any better, as she said, then you're not competent to be in office. And that alone, in my book, is grounds for [a recall]."